Mazda Could Develop New Rotary With Audi's Help

We’ve heard so many rumors regarding either a revival of the RX-7, or the arrival of a new RX-9, that it’s hard to believe any of it. However, Inside Line know their way around a rumor, and we are inclined to believe what they are saying: Mazda and Audi have had informal talks regarding a possible collaboration on the rotary.

The informal talks could result in the new rotary being used in the A1 e-tron as a range-extender. It sounds odd that the masters of turbocharged diesel are interested in the Wankel, and a range-extender shouldn’t be fit for service in sportscar, so we’ll have to wait and see.

With the RX-8 soon to be put to pasture, we’re worried that Mazda will become solely focused on making small cars with fuel-efficient engines. Fortunately, the company hasn’t given up on the ‘wacky’ Wankel, the engine that it has been making since 1964 when it was shown in the Cosmo R100 coupe.

Inside sources suggest that less than 100 engineers are working on the engine at the moment, however, the Japanese carmaker wants to introduce laser ignition, which will result in the removal of conventional spark plugs - a source of engine decompression.

If sufficient funding can be found Mazda would like to have its new rotary sportscar achieve CO2 emissions of just 130g/km. When you compare this to the 299 g/km that the current RX-8 makes, you begin to realize this will probably be a completely different machine.